Save The Black Panther Party Papers

UPDATE: Edwin here. I want to make clear that this is a community effort. In tandom with my current collection of 100+ papers, acquiring this collection will make one of the largest, publicly available collections in the country. The current holders of the papers was willing to hold of on auctioning it after a plea to have us acquire it so that we can share it with the community!

Blessings Community -


I’m writing to humbly ask for your support in a project that has both a blessing and surprise.


We have been presented with the opportunity to save, archive, and exhibit one of the largest public collections of The Black Panther Intercommunal News Service (Also known as the Black Panther Newspaper or Panther Paper)— the self-published news of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense. We are talking about preserving, protecting, and making public a hxstory and knowledge of political resistance that must be shared. There are a total of 467 issues ever printed, and after acquiring this 300+ collection and adding our current collection of 100 papers, we are pretty close to a complete set of these historical newspapers.


This opportunity is once in a lifetime and we can’t pass it up - This is your chance to save and preserve history! If we do not purchase these papers, they will be sold on online auctions, disbursed and separated from the whole collection! But we can save it! 


That’s why we are reaching out to the community for support. This is chance to purchase and provide a nearly complete collection of the Black Panther Newspaper for the public to enjoy, witness, and explore. With the Panther Newspaper publicly showcased, the possibilities of what our communities can learn, contribute, and expand on are endless. These papers are incredibly rare — even though there were high numbers in circulation, many of them have been discarded, severely damaged, or  leaving very few papers in good condition. So you may be asking, why should we do this?


Here are just some of the benefits of fulfilling this dream of sharing this history with the public:


1. Learning and building understanding from the political analysis of the Black     Panther Party.

2. Allowing academic and community scholars to explore the writing, history, and life of the Black Panther Party. Because a complete set of Black Panther Newspapers are not readily available or accessible, very little writing from scholars, community, or journalists has been done.

3. Digitizing and making the collection accessible to the Public for free! This will be groundbreaking in that no complete, or even substantively partial, digitized archives are available of the Black Panther Newspaper.

The ask to acquire, archive, and digitize this large collection is $30,000. [$22,000 for acquiring the 300+ collection; $4,000 for archiving; and $4,000 for digitizing.]

Considering that some papers are going for upwards of $200 per paper, this is quite the discount. We are able to acquire the papers at such a discount because of a strong relationship with the current holder of the papers. 



Thank you for your love and support in this project and dream.


In solidarity.


“All Power To The People” - The Black Panther Party For Self Defense



The Black Panther Intercommunal News Service


The Black Panther Intercommunal News Service was first published on April 25, 1967 [The last issue was published in 1980]. The paper was distributed in many cities across the country and overseas.       

As the official voice of the Black Panther Party, it was a tool to expound on the party's ideologies and affairs as well as news from the local community and other revolutionary struggles around the world. The subjects covered were varied and of great interest to the community: information about the party; the criminal justice system; education; employment; housing; police; politics; community services.

Each issue was between 16-28 pages, with the back of each issue featuring artwork from artist and Black Panther's Minister of Culture Emory Douglas.


The paper was a great source of revenue for the national party and local chapters, of whom each member was responsible for selling a certain number of papers. At the height of the Papers popularity, the circulation was more than 100,000 copies per week. The paper began as a monthly publication in 1967, was a weekly by 1968, remaining that way until 1978 and eventually publishing its last issue in 1980.


More on the Black Panther Party For Self Defense


The Black Panther Party For Self Defense was a beacon of resistance for thousands of blacks and other oppressed people in the US and around the world during the 1960s and 1970s. The Party held a political line of solidarity for all oppressed people, understanding that oppression to one, is oppression to all. They stood up against police brutality, global imperialism, and created dozens of free community survival programs, like free family health clinics and the free children’s breakfast program; two programs that still exist today.


Many historians call the Black Panther Party “violent,” but that couldn’t be further from the truth. They served, protected, and organized with the community against repressive and oppressive acts of aggression by the United States government. The Black Panther Newspaper provides insight into the analysis and political approach to how they organized, how they thought, and how they were relentlessly in service to the community.


Here is a small sample of the Black Panther Newspapers: